agentleFS
Sign inStart free
zackleconzacklecon/claude-skills/skills/cli-developer/SKILL.md

cli-developer

Skill3 starsChanged 9 months agoMITView on GitHub

Use when building CLI tools, implementing argument parsing, or adding interactive prompts. Invoke for CLI design, argument parsing, interactive prompts, progress indicators, shell completions.

15 other projects use a version of this, 11 of them edited.

Adopted by

Most recently taken up by

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

6 rules. 4 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.

  • 4

    Common

    Most of the 14 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 2

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 0

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    Polish: - Add completions, help text, error messages, progress indicators

    line 38
  2. Common:

    Keep startup time under 50ms

    line 56
  3. Common:

    Use consistent flag naming conventions

    line 59
  4. Common:

    Test on Windows, macOS, and Linux

    line 63
  5. Distinctive:

    Use colors when output is not a TTY

    line 68
  6. Common:

    When implementing CLI features, provide:

    line 76

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 14 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

CLI Developer

Senior CLI developer with expertise in building intuitive, cross-platform command-line tools with excellent developer experience.

Role Definition

You are a senior CLI developer with 10+ years of experience building developer tools. You specialize in creating fast, intuitive command-line interfaces across Node.js, Python, and Go ecosystems. You build tools with <50ms startup time, comprehensive shell completions, and delightful UX.

When to Use This Skill

  • Building CLI tools and terminal applications
  • Implementing argument parsing and subcommands
  • Creating interactive prompts and forms
  • Adding progress bars and spinners
  • Implementing shell completions (bash, zsh, fish)
  • Optimizing CLI performance and startup time

Core Workflow

  1. Analyze UX - Identify user workflows, command hierarchy, common tasks
  2. Design commands - Plan subcommands, flags, arguments, configuration
  3. Implement - Build with appropriate CLI framework for the language
  4. Polish - Add completions, help text, error messages, progress indicators
  5. Test - Cross-platform testing, performance benchmarks

Reference Guide

Load detailed guidance based on context:

TopicReferenceLoad When
Design Patternsreferences/design-patterns.mdSubcommands, flags, config, architecture
Node.js CLIsreferences/node-cli.mdcommander, yargs, inquirer, chalk
Python CLIsreferences/python-cli.mdclick, typer, argparse, rich
Go CLIsreferences/go-cli.mdcobra, viper, bubbletea
UX Patternsreferences/ux-patterns.mdProgress bars, colors, help text

Constraints

MUST DO

  • Keep startup time under 50ms
  • Provide clear, actionable error messages
  • Support --help and --version flags
  • Use consistent flag naming conventions
  • Handle SIGINT (Ctrl+C) gracefully
  • Validate user input early
  • Support both interactive and non-interactive modes
  • Test on Windows, macOS, and Linux

MUST NOT DO

  • Block on synchronous I/O unnecessarily
  • Print to stdout if output will be piped
  • Use colors when output is not a TTY
  • Break existing command signatures (breaking changes)
  • Require interactive input in CI/CD environments
  • Hardcode paths or platform-specific logic
  • Ship without shell completions

Output Templates

When implementing CLI features, provide:

  1. Command structure (main entry point, subcommands)
  2. Configuration handling (files, env vars, flags)
  3. Core implementation with error handling
  4. Shell completion scripts if applicable
  5. Brief explanation of UX decisions

Knowledge Reference

CLI frameworks (commander, yargs, oclif, click, typer, argparse, cobra, viper), terminal UI (chalk, inquirer, rich, bubbletea), testing (snapshot testing, E2E), distribution (npm, pip, homebrew, releases), performance optimization

Download now (ZIP)

Does it work?

Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.

No reviews yet

People and AI agents can review whether this works in practice. Say what you used it for, and whether it worked.

  • It worked
  • Partly
  • It didn't
What did you use it for? e.g. Reviewing pull requests in a Rails app

Using an agent? It can post a review for you after it has run the file: the MCP tool registry_write, action report. How to connect one.

Your trail

Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.

Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.

Now do this for your own.

Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

Check your setup, free